ATP 2026 PLANS: GRIGOR DIMITROV TARGETS BRISBANE; GAëL MONFILS' SOUTH AMERICAN SWING
As ATP schedules solidify, Dimitrov returns to his two-time title-winning tournament. Monfils, 39, swaps Europe for the Argentine Open clay.
ATP players are solidifying their schedules for 2026, and Grigor Dimitrov is the latest to say he'll be at the Brisbane International. This will kick off his year at a place where he's had great results, including two title wins.
Gael Monfils of France is planning his final year before retirement. He's going to play at the Argentine Open during the South American tour. At 39, he's changing things up from past years and will be back in South America and Buenos Aires for the first time since 2018.
Dimitrov in Brisbane
The Brisbane International has been a men's event since 2009, with a pause between 2020 and 2023. In its 13 years, there have been 11 different winners, with only Andy Murray (2012, 2013) and Grigor Dimitrov (2017, 2024) winning it more than once. Dimitrov, ranked No. 44, has been a standout at the tournament. Besides his two wins, he was also a runner-up in 2013 (lost to Murray), making him the only player to reach the final three times. This year's tournament is set for January 5-11.
Dimitrov last won the title in 2024, which was his most recent trophy. Since his big win at the ATP Finals in 2017, he's played in seven other finals but only won in Brisbane, beating Holger Rune of Denmark (7-6(5), 6-4).
In early 2025, he almost made it to another final, but he had to stop his semifinal match against Jirí Lehecka due to feeling unwell at 4-6, 4-4. Lehecka then won the tournament after his opponent, Reilly Opelka, retired early in the final at 4-1.
Dimitrov hopes to move past the physical issues that bothered him in 2025, causing him to retire from the Australian Open, Roland Garros, and Wimbledon. The Wimbledon issue made him miss much of the season. He's only played in one tournament since getting hurt in the Wimbledon fourth round (where he was ahead by two sets against Jannik Sinner). Dimitrov came back after almost four months at the Paris Masters, winning his first match against Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard, but then his pectoral muscle problem got worse, and he had to pull out before his second match against Daniil Medvedev.
Monfils to Buenos Aires
Gael Monfils, 39, continues to set up his schedule for 2026 and has decided what he's doing after the Australian Open. Instead of the European indoor hardcourt tournaments he usually plays, he'll be on the South American clay tour in February. He hasn't done this since 2018, when he got to the semifinals in Argentina (lost to Dominic Thiem) and the quarterfinals at the Rio Open (lost to Diego Schwartzman).
Most top players don't go to clay courts right after the Australian tour, but Monfils might be doing it this year to get ready for the European summer season.
Even though he hasn't said exactly when he'll retire, the Monte-Carlo Masters and Roland Garros will likely be important to him, giving him some of his last chances to play for his home fans. So, Monfils might be planning to get more practice time for the clay tournaments, where he really wants to do well.
The Argentine Open in Buenos Aires is from February 15th to 26th, as part of the South American Golden Swing. It's not clear if Monfils will also play in the ATP 500 Rio Open or the ATP 250 Santiago, making it a full South American summer schedule.
EMMA RADUCANU DROPS TO NO. 29 AS VIRAL ILLNESS DELAYS COMPETITIVE TENNIS RETURN
Emma Raducanu falls to World No. 29. Discover her Madrid Open comeback plans and the viral illness that halted her WTA season.
Emma Raducanu has slipped further down the WTA rankings as she focuses on regaining her full fitness. At 23, she has faced several interruptions since her breakthrough win at the US Open in 2021.
While Raducanu stands out as a major title winner, having claimed her US Open victory after navigating the qualifiers, she reached her highest ranking at No. 10 less than a year later. Since then, she hasn’t added another singles title to her name, working instead on finding steadiness in her game. She’s aiming to kick off her clay-court season at the Madrid Open later this month. Yet, her ranking has dipped ahead of that event, partly because she withdrew from both the Miami Open and the Linz Open.
Currently listed at No. 29, down one spot from 28, Raducanu hasn’t gained ranking points recently due to recovering from a viral illness. Her last appearance was at Indian Wells in March, where she exited in the third round against Amanda Anisimova.
Her decision to miss Miami and Linz came after falling ill. Reports from BBC Sport noted that she started feeling unwell in February but kept competing until she pulled out of the Austrian tournament.
As Raducanu prepares for a potential comeback at Madrid, which kicks off on April 21, Romania’s Sorana Cirstea has moved ahead in the rankings. At 36, Cirstea climbed three places to 26th after reaching the quarter-finals in Linz.
Interestingly, Raducanu and Cirstea met earlier this year at the Transylvania Open final in Cirstea’s home country. Cirstea won decisively, 6-0, 6-2, though Raducanu admitted she wasn’t at her best even before the match started.
“In Cluj, I picked up a virus at the start of the tournament,” Raducanu shared with the Guardian in February. “I was dealing with that and its after-effects... which lasted for three weeks. I’ve been trying to shake it off. The Middle East trip was really tough for me.”
It seems Raducanu is keen to recover fully before stepping back onto the court. Looking back, Aryna Sabalenka took the 2023 Madrid Open title with a 6-3, 7-6 win over Coco Gauff in the final.
JANNIK SINNER TAKES WORLD NO. 1; ALCARAZ CAN RECLAIM LEAD IN BARCELONA
Jannik Sinner is World No. 1! Discover how Carlos Alcaraz can reclaim the top spot at the Barcelona Open this week.
Jannik Sinner’s win over Carlos Alcaraz at the Monte-Carlo Masters wasn't just a big match; it sent Sinner straight back to the world number one ranking. Now, the Italian leads Alcaraz by 440 points after his Monte-Carlo victory.
But the clay season is packed, and with so many tournaments coming up, there’s still plenty of room for the rankings to shift before Roland Garros rolls around.
Alcaraz doesn’t have to wait long for his shot to reclaim the top spot. His next chance comes right away at the Barcelona Open, his home tournament. Last year, Alcaraz made the final in Barcelona, and now he’s set to chase down Sinner again.
Honestly, their Monte-Carlo match didn’t quite live up to the hype. Blame the wind. It was a pretty scrappy three out of ten match, if we’re being honest. Not exactly the fireworks everyone expected.
Still, Sinner and Alcaraz will be only 160 points apart at the start of the Barcelona Open, really close. If Alcaraz wins in Barcelona, he actually jumps above Sinner in the rankings, but just barely. He’d have 13,410 points, Sinner would have 13,400. It’s that tight.
Plus, if the rumours are true and Sinner skips the Madrid Open, Alcaraz could hang onto the top spot pretty easily.
Even with the recent slip in the rankings, Alcaraz shouldn’t be discouraged. He knew Sinner had been playing out of his mind lately and probably expected the rankings to flip. Sinner outplayed him in Monte-Carlo and fully deserved that win.
But there’s a lot of tennis left this spring. Alcaraz is strong on clay and has more chances, especially in Madrid, to rack up points. Neither player competed in Madrid last year, so both have a great shot to stretch their leads.
With Alcaraz picking up extra points in Barcelona, Sinner might not stay number one for long. Expect this battle at the top to keep flipping back and forth; it’s far from over.
